Indigenous peoples are more likely to die from an overdose

Stacity Bailie was awaiting approval to enter a drug rehab program when she died of an overdose on October 22.

She hadn’t used illicit opioids for a long time, said her father, Gary Bailie, but the 27-year-old struggled with an alcohol addiction for more than a decade.

“She had great potential, as did all these young people who are dying of overdoses.”

Stacity was a member of the Kwanlin Dun First Nation in Whitehorse and is part of a surge in Indian overdose deaths in Canada during the pandemic.

“I want to face the problem because these deaths are not just statistics,” Gary Bailie said of his decision to tell his daughter’s story.

Data from the First Nations Health Authority in British Columbia shows that indigenous peoples are five times more likely to overdose and three times more likely to die than other residents. The gap has been further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, the authority said.

Dr Nel Wieman, the authority’s acting deputy chief medical officer, said the government’s response to the pandemic played a role in rising overdose rates.

Deaths were declining in 2019, but the lockdowns forced people to isolate themselves and more people were using drugs alone, he said.

Mental health resources were limited, some treatment centers closed and borders closed, cutting off illicit drug supplies and resulting in higher concentrations of the available opioid fentanyl, Wieman said.

“The unintended consequences of public health measures related to the COVID pandemic have exacerbated toxic drug events and deaths, not to mention the increased toxicity of the drug supply. It has never been more poisonous and deadly,” he said Wieman.

In Saskatchewan, provincial data shows that indigenous peoples account for more than half of opioid deaths in the past three years, despite accounting for only 16.3% of the population.

A report released in November by the Chiefs of Ontario and the Ontario Drug Policy Research Network found that the death rate from illicit overdose among indigenous people doubled during the first year of the pandemic. There were 116 indigenous opioid poisoning deaths between March 2020 and March 2021, a 132 percent increase from the previous year, while the rest of Ontario’s population saw a 68 percent increase.

In Yukon, the medical examiner service said its per capita opioid overdose rate is now the highest in Canada, with a reported 48.4 deaths per 100,000 people.

Chief Coroner Heather Jones said the deaths accounted for more than 20 percent of all the deaths she investigated between January and November 26 of this year. He said it was a “medical crisis,” in which most people die alone at home and the drug naloxone, which reverses the overdose, becomes less effective against “increasing drug toxicity.”

The Yukon service said it does not collect race-specific data, but Kwanlin Dun chief Doris Bill said First Nations people are disproportionately affected.

“It is no longer a crisis. It is an emergency,” he said. “We need more resources and we need the federal government to step in to help us.”

Wieman said intergenerational trauma plays a major role in the crisis.

“When we talk to communities, that’s the link. Their generations have unhealed traumas, not just historical traumas like residential schools or the Scoop of the 60s, but contemporary traumas that are happening in people’s lives, especially in the last two years, “Wieman said. , referring to the pandemic, wildfires and floods in BC

Gary Bailie makes the same link in the case of Stacity. Her mother was abused as a child and committed suicide when Stacity was six years old.

“People (who use drugs) are just trying to escape their pain. The trauma is piling up and she was just trying to medicate and escape, “he said.

Bailie said she plans to dedicate her life to supporting Stacity’s six-year-old daughter.

“This is my last chance to break the cycle.”

The effect on smaller communities is magnified because everyone knows each other and access to a secure supply of drugs is more difficult, Weiman said.

“Racism is also rampant in the British Columbia healthcare system and that probably contributes to the toxic drug crisis because people don’t come for help, not because the service is not there, but because they fear how they are going to Be treated. “

Last year, retired Judge Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond published a report that found “widespread stereotypes, racism and discrimination of indigenous peoples” in British Columbia.

In a recent interview, Turpel-Lafond said more research is needed on the aggravated effects of the overdose crisis and COVID-19, with awareness of the general problem of racism in healthcare.

“What I would like to see is more analysis on whether there are effective treatment services, are they culturally safe, low-barrier, accessible and where they are needed,” he said.

British Columbia declared the overdose crisis a public health emergency nearly six years ago. Wieman said he still calls it an emergency after more than half a decade that it has lost its meaning.

“There is a little neglect of the urgency of this issue due to stigma and stereotypes, and that is the big difference between COVID and the toxic drug crisis. The message all along through COVID has been ‘we are all together. on this’ and the subtle message during the toxic drug crisis is’ I’m glad it’s you and not me, ‘”he said.

The British Columbia government has asked Ottawa to allow the province to be the first in the country to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of illicit drugs.

“By decriminalizing, we are removing a barrier to treatment and services. I hear that shame and fear make people hide their drug use and lead them to use it alone, ”said Sheila Malcolmson, British Columbia’s minister for mental health and addictions, in November.

National Chief RoseAnne Archibald of the Assembly of First Nations said the COVID-19 pandemic has been “spiritually damaging” because it has impeded traditional and communal grieving processes, adding to the “collective trauma” of indigenous peoples.

“The connection is healing and it’s very difficult right now, so you see an increase in addiction and mental health issues,” Archibald said. “Federal and provincial governments must invest in healing programs and services that will build resilience.”

In Ontario, regional chief Glen Hare said the reports were “very explicit in providing evidence that governments must correct the underfunding that has been going on for years to make effective progress in addressing the drug overdose crisis. First Nations communities “.

In Yukon, the Kwanlin Dun chief wants the Yukon government to review its opioid strategy to identify and fill gaps in service, including adding indigenous-specific cultural supports at a recently opened safe-drinking site in Whitehorse. .

“It’s hard enough for vulnerable indigenous peoples to make use of the services and programs that exist, and many of them date back to residential schools, among other things, so it’s really important that we have the right cultural supports for our people. “said Bill.

Gary Bailie said that widespread social change is necessary to understand addiction in Canada.

“At the national level, we have a pretty big problem on our hands. It needs to be treated more seriously and there needs to be more action.”

This Canadian Press report was first published on December 14, 2021.

This story was produced with financial assistance from Facebook and the Canadian Press News Fellowship.